Never doubt that a small group of foolish citizens that should be committed can screw it up for the rest of us.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

OPEN POSTS WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN

The recent sales tax increase proposal has certainly got the ire of the citizenry up. As one who voted in favor of the income tax repeal I can gladly say “I told you so.” Please enjoy your helping at the Crow Mart.

I contacted several legislators on this issue and the response has always been the same. In fact - exactly the same. “It pained me to vote for it.” “I saw no alternative.” “I have filed legislation to address reforms.” All the legislators were Democrats since they have a monopoly on the legislature and the few Republicans have the good sense to realize a fiscal con game. As far as those responses. If it hurts so much don’t do it! As my doctor would say: “If it hurts doing that don’t do it.” The alternative is simple - get the reforms out front. Most of us common folk know what has to be done. The filing legislation is the biggest joke it politics. The ready made excuse. How much legislation is “filed” and never gets acted upon? Another linguistic con game. Taxes are the government cost for “doing their business” but a good portion of us in Massachusetts now seriously question how this business is run. When your government appears to have all the integrity of Lehman Brothers and ENRON there are problems.

The Green School issue has certainly stormed ahead. The money count is rising rapidly and some are stepping up with resources such as the painting contractor offering services. Some wish to play the blame game on how we got here and that is quite easy to do but does not resolve the issue. What this will come down to is feasibility. In the meantime contact Lincoln Andrews about contributions either fiscal or other.

48 comments:

What difference does it make how we "got there"? Town projects are like house projects. You get to them one at a time. It's overwhelming to look at all problems at once. I wonder how those negative people who are so quick to criticize others manage their own lives.

What's the point in going to a Town Meeting when you have to vote on articles based on information we can't trust. Who got screwed on this ladder truck sale, Middleboro or Lakeville? If Lakeville gets it up and running, then we wasted $900K at a time when we could least afford it. Town Meetings? Bogo was right. They're a pointless waste of my time.

"The ladder truck did not pass the certification test. Repairs will cost approximately $150,000. The company who has prepared the report does not want to do the repairs.

Selectman Rogers noted that $130,000 was spent on repairs for the truck three (3) years ago.

Chief Russell said issues had been brought up immediately. The biggest issue is the twisting of the ladder when it is extended. The pistons are leaking, cables are rubbing against it, and there are cracks in the frame.

Chief Russell said there is also a problem with the heating system requiring about $5000 in repairs."

By all accounts sounds like the town of Lakeville bought a money pit. Unless they are going to use it for parts to a sister ladder then they made a smart move.

Chief Russel is quoted as saying these type trucks are rare and parts are hard to find.

In some of the photos it looks like the steeple is leaning. They need a demolition crew in there tut suit. Also, I read that churches, unlike other buildings, are not required to have sprinkler systems. Does that make sense?

It wasn't leaning at all, though when the clouds both in the sky and from the billowing smoke where moving there was the disconcerting illusion that the steeple was swaying.

I was told by a fire fighter that dating back many years church steeples were designed to collapse straight down in the event of a fire. I assume catastrophic church fire were quite common in "the old days" before modern fire fighting equipment.

Sounds to me like the electrical wiring wasn't updated for eons, was probably brittle, and voila. Either that or, unlike the benign ghosts of the Town Hall, the Church was visited by poltergeists. Sounds like maybe VV visited there recently and left some bad karma behind. A few years back a Benedictine monk visited Middleboro and claimed he felt the strong presence of evil in our town.

Looks you got your answer to "Who got screwed on this ladder truck sale, Middleboro or Lakeville?" Ironically the Fire Department did ladder tests on the church.

I did not see Lakeville there with a ladder truck.as I said on BB's blog:

IMO it is unreasonable to expect a firefighter to come and save me or my property with equipment that jeopardizes the firefighter's life.

The old ladder truck was substandard by all accounts.

Ladder trucks are very complex machines. Hydraulics, pumps, intricate electrical wiring, bearings, wear plates, unseen stress fractures all with a two men on an extended ladder cantilevered over a building.

Lakeville can have the old truck. Our firefighters can be on the new one.

This is a prime example of when community needs to come together. A perfect place for The Church to meet would be upstairs of the Town Hall or the Nichols Middle School Auditorium.

The Town Hall Auditorium would be a perfect place due to its proximity. The church staff already has janitorial services which could keep the space clean.

I would suggest all townspeople, secular or otherwise to support this position. We need to provide them time to sort out their difficult position while continuing their services. The time frame could initially be every Sunday morning for one year, with a possible extension of 6 months to one year.

To those of you that think this would violate the separation of church of and State my reply is simple: Ba humbug

Screw the ACLU. The constitution also guarantees us the right to worship as we please. Humanity supercedes legalities. I agree that we offer our support and empathy to this displaced congregation of our neighbors and friends.

An interesting question re. the separation of church and state part of the Constitution, so I looked it up on the website of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

There would seem to be no problem:

"Public Venues: Can churches and other religious groups use public facilities?

The U.S. Constitution allows governments (federal, state, and local) to open up their public facilities — such as public-school buildings and public libraries — for use by religious groups. But governments must give religious and secular groups access to those facilities on equal terms. For example, a public school may permit religious groups to hold meetings in its building after school hours, but it may not allow those groups to use the building for free while charging a fee to secular groups, and vice versa."

ReferenceThe only issue would seem to be that the church would have to pay a comparable amount to similar secular organizations.

My reaction to the "Ba Humbug" and the preemptive "screw the ACLU" is that the United States Constitution is nothing to dismiss so lightly.

Just to be clear, Hal. I have no problem with the constitution. I have a problem with the ACLU, an organization that defends the rights of Neo-Nazis and the KKK...both hate groups. Yet they regularly treat religious organizations as "oppressive".

If you can't make out the thumbnail, it's the United State Supreme Court engraving "Equal Justice Under Law".

Sure, the ACLU "works to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities (their website)" and perhaps tellingly does not mention the fact that they have and will sometimes defend members of neo-nazi groups ( see for example) and the Klan (see for example).

I have had second hand experience with the ACLU and I have seen that when someone has the lawyers of a government agency arrayed against them when you file a civil discrimination lawsuit having an experienced ACLU team does tend to level the playing field.

The thing to understand is that most judges are political appointees. In Massachusetts that usually means giving a political contribution and on the Federal level in means spouting the party line.

The SCOTUS is bound to offend someone since they make decisions that are in many cases real hot button issues such as with an election, abortion, individual rights and so on. The interpretation of the constitution - IMO - has become an exercise in political and personal ideology.

What upsets some about the ACLU is their ability to pick their spots with what they choose to do battle about. I believe the organization had its roots back in WWI under another name and I am too lazy to look it up. Had to do with war issues and Felix Frankfurter was a founder.

In the 20s and 30s they were all over the map as far as political and social philosophy was concerned with civil liberties always being the cornerstone. Made no difference as to ideology just if the case would be of individual or group infringements of personal rights. Selectivity has since become a trademark and IMO that seems to go along ideological lines. I have seen less of the willingness to defend the really outrageous extremist - especially from the right. They are - naturally - under no obligation to do so. IMO the ACLU is viewed by the mainstream as a far left organization and that has always been good for some political points for the Republicans. Didn’t Bush play off that in 1988?

Bozo - why are you posting on BB's blog? What happened to your usually high standards? Same with Suo. Didn't you two drive him nuts enough before.

I agree on the ACLU. Consider me one of those mainstream people who thinks they go out of their way now not for the quaility of an issue but to make waves. You'll see a lot less of it with Obama in office. Why pester a soul mate?

"The ACLU has continued its fight to secularize every facet of American life by having a memorial which stood in that location since 1934 either removed or torn down," said Mark Seavey, assistant national legislative director for The American Legion, days ahead of Memorial Day.

Erected by World War I veterans to honor the nation's war dead, the seven-foot-tall memorial cross is currently being challenged for removal by the American Civil Liberties Union and Frank Buono, a former National Park Services employee who lives in Oregon. They filed a lawsuit in 2001, claiming the memorial is a religious symbol and violates the Establishment Clause.

The District Court and later the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the ACLU, ruling that the memorial is unconstitutional. The case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this fall. In the meantime, the cross – which is located in the 1.6 million acre-Mojave National Preserve near the California-Nevada border and accessible when driving on a two-lane winding road – has been covered with a plywood box.

"If the plaintiff is so offended by the possibility of seeing that cross some day in the cemetery, I wonder if the plaintiff when next in Washington, D.C., will be offended when he drives by Arlington National Cemetery and sees headstones of hundreds of thousands of men and women who gave their lives for their country, headstones with a cross or a star of David," Sims posed.

Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, says tens of thousands of memorials across the country are threatened if the Supreme Court upholds the appeals court ruling.

Shackelford and veterans present at Thursday's press briefing made it clear that the Mojave Desert memorial was not erected as a religious symbol or with the intent of conveying a religious message. It, along with thousands of other war memorials, was simply put up to honor those who had spilled their blood and given their lives for their country.

Just drove by what's left of the urned out Church. Have to disagree with Jane Lopes assessment tat the building is salvageable. Way too much damage interiorly and exteriorly. Needs to be leveled and rebuilt, though I believe the steeple appears undamaged.

On another note, doubt enough interest in tonight's Town Meeting has been stirred up to meet a quorum. A rather ho-hum agenda.

Enetrprise article had the fire captian praising the new ladder truck as partially responsible for putting down this fire and keeping the damage from being total. I'd suggest some of the long time ladder critics ask the church members if the ladder expense was worth it.

I post anywhere. Heck, BB obviously has no standards if he posts my comments. Just look for an interesting topic and The Green School and the ladder issue is an example. The ladder issued was tossed about over a year ago on the nemasket site with general disapproval of a new purchase. Now that can be commented upon and reflected upon. I like the way Hal has his board set up and would like to see more posters take advantage of it.

As far as posting my primary focus is not these foolish town, state and national issues but baseball. Now that is serious stuff!

I disagree big time with McKinnon's political views on immigration and don't like his sarcasm.

I also have had some disagreements with Adam Bond.

I complimented Adam in the same sidebar as I criticized McKinnon.

I don't think McKinnon's calling the question could be considered anything but hypocrisy.

True, his doing so left it up to a vote, and maybe he'll do some damage control and say this is all he was doing. If you were there waiting in line to have your say I think you'd resent having him ask if the majority wanted to "shut you up".

Anyone could have called the question and he's the one who decided to do so.

BOGO, I was at the limo lot yesterday I had a long wait for a flight, the drivers waiting room has about 50 seats tables and a tv, I brought my laptop to work and I was reading your blog and hit the "press 1 for english" I was surrounded by middle eastern men talking their native tounge LOL! "English is my language" comes blasting out, All eyes in the room turn to me LOL!

Whats that tv commercial "If I could only be somewhere else right now".

Well....I can add some humor. Get my brakes done - $600 and my daughter borrows my car - a Grand Prix. Says it was "acting funny." Yeah...like ha ha funny your tranny is gone. So just before a trip to California I get hit with 3K for a new one or 2K for a rebuilt. Looking at some trucks until I realize the sales tax and excise tax would probably pay for the tranny.

I think Suo and a few others are correct in not much doing. We need someone - anyone - to screw up so we can all go into a feeding frenzy.

I have been on a few baseball boards as the yankee fans are coming out of hiberantion now that their team is doing well. A few more losses and back into the closet for most of them.

Maura Healey

Super Hack

Hack Hall Of Fame

The AG has just come out looking for a target after The Boston Herald "outed" Healey on her track record of travel expenses. So exactly what did this "hack" do to instill such ire in Bogo? Draft kings!

Draft Kings is an online gaming site that is used for sports fantasy players and fantasy sports is a huge business. Fantasy is also gaming since your success depends on an unknown outcome.

The hobgoblin of liberalism is hypocrisy. Not sure of the pundit who should get credit, but, alas, I am too lazy to look it up. And Healey is an up in lights liberal.

This state has a lottery and is now the birth place of one casino with many more in the waiting room. I can gamble illegally whenever I want since bookmakers are as common as ticks. But to this hack the target is now fantasy sports? LMAO!

For a note on this issue I do not play in any fantasy leagues of any kind. Never have and never will. I wonder in Healey does? Maybe a deeper check into her expense reports will tell.

director of the Bureau of Environmental Health

director of the Bureau of Environmental Health

director of the Bureau of Environmental Health

Your Government Hard At Work

Deval Patrick just lingers on like a migraine headache.

Now it appears his administration had some type of off the grid slush fund that was funded by various departments via creative accounting. Most of the cash was used for travel expenses and other incidentals that the payroll patriots could scrounge.

This, I imagine, will constitute his legacy.

Patrick also was on the take for $7,500 a day from an Olympic Committee formulated to proselytize for this next Big Dig. When Patrick was "outed" that was the end of that cushy gig.